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Poli-Sci

Terms in this set (122)

the bill of rights refers to
the first 10 amendments of the constitution
following the end of the reconstruction (after 1876 election), Southern states limited the rights of blacks by
- establishing racially segregated public services
- requiring literacy tests to vote
- conducting racially exclusive primary elections
in 1954, the US Supreme Court decided the case Brown v. Board of Education which:
prohibited racial segregation in public services such as schools
the right to privacy has been inferred by the supreme court from which 3 amendments
3, 4, 9
In 1937, the power of the federal government was significantly expanded when
the Supreme Court reinterpreted the Commerce Clause
delegates at the constitutional convention agreed to the 3/5ths compromise which established that:
Slaves counted as 3/5ths of a person for the purpose of apportioning seats to the House of Rep.
The US constitution first took effect in
1789
Selective incorporation refers to
the gradual application of the Bill of Rights to states following the ratification of the 14th amendment.
The stamp act was passed by the British Parliament to collect more tax revenues from the American colonies and:
widespread protests in the American colonies
The Missouri Constitution
- established three branches of state governments: legislative, executive, and judicial
- In Missouri's 4th constitution
- Created a bicameral General Assembly
- Is longer than the US Constitution
The fist amendment guarantees which civil liberties
- Freedom of the press (i.e., media)
- Freedom of assembly
- Free exercise of religion
- Prevents Congress from establishing an official religion
A block grant
is a federal grant to states that allows states to decide how to spend federal money
Following the US Supreme Court's decision in June 2015, same-sex marriage is
legal in all 50 states
The US has a federal system of government. This means that
Governing authority is divided between two or more levels of government
The 14th amendment (1868)
Applied the 5th amendment's due process clause to states
In 2011, MO passed a law that prevented the federal government government from requiring individuals to have health insurance, which is part of the Affordable Care Act. This is:
Unenforceable, the Constitution does not allow states to nullify federal law
In order to amend the US Constitution, an amendment must be proposed by 2/3 of congress and:
Ratified by 3/4 of state legislatures
Women are guaranteed the right to vote
by the 19th amendment (1920)
The Articles of Confederation organized the first independent American government, but was very short-lived. Why? What was a central problem with the Articles of Confederation?
The federal government was too weak and could not pass and enforce federal law.
The Civil Rights Act (1964)
- bans discrimination against people on race, color, sex, religion, and nation origin in employment
- prohibits segregation in places of public accommodation, such as hotels and restaurants
- enforced the desegregation of schools in the South
In order to resolve differences between large states and small states, delegates at the Constitutional Convention agreed to create a bicameral legislature. This means that:
Congress has two chambers: House of Reps, and the Senate
Key civil liberties are guaranteed by the Constitution, but are not absolute. Which of the following is an exception to the freedom of speech
a tobacco company wants to run an advertisement promoting its cigarettes during the super bowl.
According the the 4th amendment
Police officers cannot conduct unreasonable search and seizures of a person or her property
In order to amend the Missouri Constitution, an amendment must be:
Proposed by a majority of the General Assembly and approved by a majority of voters
Dillon's Rule posits that:
Local governments are creatures of state governments
In 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act in order to
Remove indirect barriers to voting faced by racial/ethnic minorities.
in order to be elected president, a candidate must win a
majority of the electoral college vote
During the 1850's the Republican party was formed by abolitionists following the collapse of which major party
Whig party
what factors affect public opinion?
socialization, personal experiences, political environment
agenda setting example
person reads a story about corporate use of arbitration provisions in consumer and employment contracts, and begins to pay more attention to the issue and believes it is important.
the ideological view that is characterized by support for fewer economic regulations, fewer social programs, traditional family arrangements, and emphasis on law and order
conservatism
in a typical presidential election, about what % of adult Americans will vote
60%
An advantage that political parties provide democratic government is to
organize government, recruit candidates, clarify responsibility
presidents can serve a max of ____ terms
2
Which type of person is more likely to vote?
Age- older people
Income- more affluent
Education- more educated
Partisans- people with strong attachments to political party
Race/ethnicity- minorities, less likely
as it relates to interest groups, the free-rider problem is:
the problem in which large groups cannot form because people believe that their individual participation will not matter to a large group
An interest group call its members to encourage them to contact their representatives in Congress to vote against a bill. This is an example of
grassroots lobbying
Following the ratification of the 17th amendment (1913)
senators were directly elected
Surveys often interview a subset of the population to measure public opinion. The subset of the population is known as the
sample
Members of the U.S. Senate are elected for
2 year terms
You are a member of the House of Representatives and are running for reelection. How likely are you to be re-elected?
90% very likely
The theory that interest groups compete to control government and that larger interests prevail over smaller interests is known as
pluralism?
totalitarianism ?
An organization that raises and distributes campaign money directly to candidates within federal limits is known as a
Political Action Committee (PAC)
A sources of media bias in the US are
-focus on negative stories (scandals, corruption, incompetence)
- Overemphasis on the president
- Pack journalism, where reporters tend to cover the same stories as other reporters
Following the 1824 election, Andrew Jackson and his supporters broke away from the Democrat-Republican Party to form the
Democratic party
Each state has a certain number of electoral college votes (MO = 10) How is a state's number of electoral college votes determined ?
Senators + Representatives
In MO, all voters are allowed to vote in party primary elections regardless of their party affiliation. This is an example of which type of primary?
open
According to Duverger's Law, the US has a two party system because:
it uses SMSP elections
A super-PAC can
spend an unlimited amount of money on its own campaign advertisements
Which of the following factors is the most important determinant of a person's vote choice in presidential elections
Party identification
Following the 2010 Census, the federal gov. reallocated the number of House seats to states and MO lost one seat, This process is known as:
Reapportionment
During the fourth party system, Progressive and Populist acivists successfully passed civil service reforms and primary elections. These reforms:
Weakened local party machines
You are an advisor to Chris Christie's presidential campaign in a republican primary election, wehre would you advise him to focus his campaign in order to give him the best chance to win?
the early primary states
Christie wins the republican nom. for pres., in a pres. general election, where should he focus is campaign?
battle ground states
Three core values that are widely shared by Americas are:
liberty, equality of opportunity, democracy
Congress
- heads the federal legislation branch
- primary lawmaking institutions
- passes budget
who oversees the executive branch
congress
The Bicameral Congress
- House of Rep (435)
- Senate (100)
typically, how long is the budgetory analysis and projective provided to congress
10 years
what is the simplest unit in parties within Congress? Ex?
caucuses
Ex: House Democratic caucus (all house democrats)
Roles of speaker of the House
- preside over house
- recognizes members on floor of House
- helps schedule votes
- Assigns bills to committees
- negotiates w/ other officials
- helps build cooliations, schedules votes, plans bills
- house majority whips (helps communicate between party leaders and majority rank
How is Speaker of the house chosen
- chosen by majority party
Minority Whips
- try to amend and defect bills in House (often unsuccessful)
House majority caucus typically has strong control over decisions in the house. What's an exception?
debt ceiling
Who is the President of the Senate? What do they do?
The vice president
- breaks ties
Who presides in the Senate President's absence?
President pro-tem
- a mostly symbolic position: given to most senior member of senate majority caucus
Who elects the senate majority leader?
elected by senate majority caucus
Who elects the senate minority leader?
senate minority caucus
The Senate allows unlimited debate on Senate floor. Explain a Filibuster
delaying tactic in which a senator engages in unlimited "debate" to prevent the senate from voting
- most important procedural source of influence for minority party in congress
Cloture Motion
- requirements
forces an end to debate and call for vote
- requires a 60 vote majority in senate
- almost always requires R and D votes
How many standing committees does the house have?
Senate?
21
16
Three theories of committee system in congress
1. Informational
2. partisan
3. distributional
1. Informational
- committees allow members to specialize in certain policies
- build expertise- improving decision making
Ex: agricultural committee
2. Partison
- argues that majority party uses committees to control content and passage of bills
- majority party controls a majority of all committees seats
- all committee chairs
- same for subommittees
3. Distributional
- committees used to allocate federal money
- appropriations committee are among the most important and sought after positions
MOST Important: House Rules Committee
Steps of How a Bill Becomes a law
Step 1: Bill Introduction
2. co-sponsorship
3. bill referral
4. committee Action
5a. floor action (house)
5b. Floor action (senate)
6. Reconciling differences
7. the president
Bill introduction
members of congress must sponsor legislation but groups, agencies, and parties can help draft it.
Co-sponsorship
sought b sponsors to expand support for the legislature
Bill Referral
- multiple referral
assigning a bill to a particular committee - committee(s) of jurisdiction
- bills can be referred to more than one committee
Committee action
- hearings
- mark-ups
almost all action on bills happens in committee
- hear from the bill's sponsors, federal agencies, interest groups, business interests, and citizens
- committee members decide the bills...
House Floor action
- Rules Committee
- more party based (currently R)
- sets the rules for floor debate including time, control over time, and amendments
- rules are approved by House before the bill is considered
- the house then debates the bill, hears amendments to the bill, votes on amendments and finally votes on the bill
- the bill is then sent to the senate
senate floor action
- holds
- filibuster
- cloture
- senators can block debates on bill by privately asking party leaders not to schedule the bill
--- floor debate ends when all senators are done speaking or when cloture is invoked
- the use of extended debate to block or delay legislation
- places cap on debate time and requires 60 members
Reconciling differences
- conference committees include members from both House and Senate committees
- the agreements emerging from the conference committee must be approved by both chambers
The president
- after both chambers approve identical legislation, it is sen to pres.
- the president can sign it or veto
-- if signed it becomes law
-- if vetoed both chambers must override by a 2/3 vote for it to become law
- if congress has adjourned, the president can kill the leg. by doing nothing (pocket veto)
Attitudes towards congress: Fenno's Paradox
- despite low job approval, most members are reelected. Why?
- people vote their own member of congress, but hate congress as a whole
President heads tow major issues
- domestic policy: secondary action, while congress is primary
- foreign policy: primary while congress is secondary
why does president have more authorities over foreign that domestic policy?
- pres is more capable of responding quickly
- few interest groups involved
- citizens expect pres to represent national crisis
Foreign policy powers
Commander-in-chief-of the armed forces
- decides use of US military
- constitution says cogress has power to declare war (last time was WWII)
War Powers Resolution (1973)
- 3 requirements
Attempt by congress to reassert its authority in war-making
- 48 hour notification before president orders combat
- Congressional approval for deployment over 60 days
- a 30 day w/drawl requirement if congress doesnt approve w/in 60 days
Presidents have mostly ignored it.
Additional Foreign Policy Powers
Negotiate and sign treaties
-must be approved by 2/3 senate
Growth in executive agreements
- can change as president changes
Recieve foreign ministers
- extends official recognition of governments
Domestic Policy Powers
- vetoes
- signing statements
-- 3 types
- executive orders
- appointments
- proposals
Vetos
stop bills from becoming a law
- can be overridden by 2/3 of congress
Ex: war powers resolution
- less that 5% of vetoes are overridden
Line item veto act of 1998
Line item veto- when pres can veto certain parts of a bill without vetoing the whole thing. - declared unconstitutional by the supreme court in Cinton v. city of New York
Signing Statement
- 3 types
Statement by president when signing a law
- Expressive: why pres supports bill
- Interpretive: how pres interprets bill
- Constitutional: parts of the bill won't be implemented
Executive Orders
order from the pres to an executive agency to how a law is enforced
Appointments - EX:
The power to appoint federal judges gives a president the opportunity to place on the federal bench for lifelong terms persons who agree with the president's views on law and the role of the judicial system. A president is limited to serving eight years. A federal judge may serve for decades.
Proposals
can propose laws to congress
Ex: pres annual budget request
- assisted by staff in EOP
- proposal power is more important when there is united gov and when president is popular
Presidential Approval
- typically higher during a foreign policy crisis, when economy is doing well, and early in presidential term.
US military intervention directed by president
- constitutional authority president has as "commander-in-chief of armed forces
- most significant presidential power
- congress has constitutional power to "declare war"
what year did US countries formally declare war on each other?
1789
Federal Courts have never decided cases "Political question doctrine"
Ex:
- David Souter Appointed by Bush I
- consequence is that minor coflicts are usually "authorized" by congress
Who (mostly) controls budget
- congress
(could in theory cut funding of a war)
Ex: great white fleet
Budget: is one of the two main parts of:
economic policy
Keynesion economic theory
- suggests that government run a deficit during a recession
Gross Domestic Product
total value of goods and services produced by a country
- unpredictable timing, duration, and severity
Recessions as a vicious cycle
declining demand for goods and services --> unemployment --> repeat
Deficit
when government spends more than it raises in taxes
- deficits bulsten demands for goods and services
Critics of the Keynesian theory
- monetarism argues that deficits just displace private investments
Fiscal Policy
the means by which a government adjusts its spending levels and tax rates to monitor and influence a nation's economy. It is the sister strategy to monetary policy through which a central bank influences a nation's money supply.
Monetary policy
controls the supply of money in the economy
- managed by federal reserves system
- 12 regional banks
- most important monetary policy decision made by Fed open market committee (FOMC)
FOMC
- 7 members of board of governors
- 5 of 12 regional bank presidents
Who is the board of governors appointed by?
How long are their terms
Who is Chair appointed by?
How ling is their term?
the president
- confirmed by senate
- 14 year terms
the president
- confirmed by senate
- 4 year term as chair
- officers are non-partison
Current Chair
Janet Yellen
FOMC has two objectives
1. Manage inflation
2. Keep unemployment low
- tries to maintain modeate, long-term growth
More money:
Less Money:
- inflation goes up, unemployment goes down
- inflation goes down, unemployment goes up
FOMC: 4 policy tools
1. Interest Rate
2. Buy and sell federal securities
3. Reserve Ratio
4. Lenders last resorts
What do courts decide?
how laws apply in particular cases
What cases do federal courts take
- major crimes
- immigration
- bankruptcy
Three tiered court structure
1. US district courts
- 94. at least one in every state
2. US Circuit Courts
- can re-decide legal issues from district courts
- 12 regional circuit courts
- 1 federal circuit court
13 total 2nd level courts
3. US Supreme Court
- court of last resort
Supreme court
- 8 associate justices
- 1 chief justice
- all appointed by president
-- confirmed by senate
- lifetime terms
Two main functions of Supreme Ct.
1. Judicial Review
- is law consistent w/ constitution
Ex: NFIB v. sebelius - obamacare violates 10th amendment
2. Statutory interpretation
- means SC can determine mean of laws
Ex: Immigrational Nationality Act (1957)
Ex: Boutilier v. INS - 1967 - gays and lesbians could not immigrate
Steps to file case in Supreme Court
1. Petitions
2. At least 4 justices must agree o hear case
3. Written briefs
4. oral arguments
5. Justices meet in chamber
6. MAJORITY OPINION
6.5 optional - concurring and dissenting opinions
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